Freezing Bananas for Smoothies

Do most people freeze their bananas for smoothies? I do, and I make mine “smoothie-ready” to save time. Here’s how.

Every couple of months or so, when bananas are on sale (29 cents a pound at Ray’s Apple Market on Tuesdays) I buy about four bunches. We eat off of them as a family and let them get nice and ripe for a few days.

After day three or four, I peel the bananas and put them on a small cookie sheet lined with foil.

Then I cut the bananas into 1-inch pieces on the cookie sheet…really easy and quick to do.

Then I put the cookie sheet in the freezer to “flash freeze” the bananas, for an hour or so.

I check on them to make sure they are frozen, and then I pop all of them in a ziploc bag and store in the freezer for up to two months. We usually go through them a lot quicker than that.

Voila! Smoothie-ready bananas!

Here is my favorite smoothie recipe as of late:

Blueberry Banana Soy Smoothie

1. In a sixteen ounce cup, fill with frozen blueberries and bananas to the top of the cup.

2. Take milk or soy milk and fill the cup up to the fruit line. Dump into blender.

3. Throw a handful of fresh baby spinach leaves into the blender.

4. Top off with a splash of orange juice.

5. Blend until smooth and chunk-free. Add more milk if need be and blend until desired consistency.

*If you scroll up to the second-to-last picture, you will see popsicle molds behind the bananas. I make a double batch of smoothie and pour the rest into the popsicle molds for Kate and I to enjoy as an afternoon snack!